Hummingbird Hardcover – August 2, 2022

I really enjoyed this book! The main character is very sweet and easy to relate to. I became teary eyed a few times while reading it due to its sweetness. Purchasing an extra copy to give to my best friend’s daughter who loved the Harry Potter series.

My eight year old granddaughter recommended this book.First, I'm amazed that she has read it at such a young age. Second, she was absolutely right. This is an amazing book, so full of real life, with mystery and hope. Enchanting tale, a must read! I 100% recommended this to everyone for entertainment and a feel good read.Enjoy it!

My 8 yo son and I read this book together, and it was wonderful! We loved the story-Natalie Lloyd brings the characters to life, and we felt like we knew them so well. We can’t wait to read more books by this author.

This book was from a Texas reading list. Enjoyed it!!

This review is based on what my ten year old told me after reading this. It’s not verified bc we borrowed it from the library.This book is about a girl named Olive who has osteogenesis imperfecta, a disease where you have fragile bones. (The author also has OI.) Because of this, she is in a wheelchair and has been homeschooled, but now she is enrolling in public school because she wants to make friends.In the first few chapters, Olive is in church and she’s praying to God.They mention yoga in the book, but no specific detail about it. Olive takes “yoga breaths” to calm herself.There is magic in this book, but not the dark kind or witches. It’s more the fairytale magic. A teacher tells the class a story about a magical hummingbird that grants wishes. They have a riddle they have to solve to figure out how to find the hummingbird. The hummingbird only comes to you in the end if you have a “true” wish.Spoilers: Toward the end of the book, Olive gets the main part in the school play and does well. It is there that the hummingbird shows up because it’s where fear meets wonder for her. But despite thinking she’d wish for strong bones, she actually wishes for her step-brother to get his lost dog back. It turns out her step-brother had wished for her to get the main part in the school play and do it well. It turns out everyone ends up wishing for something other than they thought.The book ends with this: “I am fragile and I’m also fearless, funny, smart, vivacious, lucky, and loved, with a heart like a lion… I like my body and my life exactly as it is…My bones are fragile. But I am not.”From what I can tell, it seems the book has some terrific messages- that there is some good and bad, strengths and weaknesses, in everyone, but you don’t have to let the negative rule over the positive. Conquering your fears to do something you love can bring magic, that being the true magic of life.My daughter also says, while the book is about a child with a disability, like Wonder or Out of My Mind, is much like the latter one, and not like Wonder. She said there’s no bullying in this book and the quality of writing is better than Wonder. The message seems to be better, like Out of My Mind, so if you’ve read either of those, you have a better idea.Hope that helps!

I read this myself as soon as it came out and immediately bought the audiobook for my girls who range from twelve to six, and they all loved it!⁣Like all Natalie Lloyd's stories, Hummingbird is full of heart and wonder and whimsy! But Hummingbird was especially beautiful, because it features a girl named Olive with the same brittle bone disease called osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) that Natalie herself lives with, and watching Olive chase her dreams, struggle through her heartbreaks, and navigate her world with tenacity and pluck made this book extra special.⁣I also related a lot to her stepbrother who seemed to have Sensory Processing Disorder or something similar. And of course I was delightfully charmed by all the unique magic and heartwarming friend and family relationships. This is one of those stories that feels to me the same way a perfect autumn morning does…cozy and joyful and ready for anything!

This book captured me from its opening pages. 11yo Olive is a treasure I truly enjoyed getting to know.Lots of love and joy and laughter in this tale. And my tears? Well, let's just say this story of a broken girl broke me open in the best way.The hummingbird is real.

My daughter loves this book. Good and sturdy. Definitely a book for they're bucket list.